MadelineMaureen

In Korean Romance dramas other than the Reply series ML is always the first male actor listed in the show page.

The fact she is the one to reach out and knock some sense into Do Han even though she is still hurting from Ji Han's rejection.🫰🏻🥹

The crappy father going to prison would tank the stock prices of multiple companies...so we all know who gramps is choosing.

I loved that with the ex it now has me looking at all of his interactions with the other characters again. If he is being honest with Do Han about warning him, and it not being a threat there are few things that change.
Who is the person tampering with Do Han's studio all the time? Was he really only trying to hurt Do Han by telling Ji Han his secret?

End of episode 8

I recommend it. I'm 33 so I like the fact that the characters aren't perfect versions of a person. They are flawed and willing to make changes when they see what they've done has hurt someone they love.
If you are a black and white thinker I would skip. As it is obviously triggering people in the comment section.

Small love triangle with ML, FL and the 2FL. It is very mild on a drama scale for a love triangle as the 2FL is pretty decent human and friend.
The romance is sort of enemies to lovers vibe. The ML is trying to get her to leave his brother, and doesn't really trust their relationship.
It's not spicy as of episode 10. Nor is there a feeling of "can't help myself" type of energy that some romances have. Medium/regular burn as the show is only 12 episodes it shortens the timeline.

I'm 33, and have been enjoying it a lot. Do Han is a bit underdeveloped as a character, but other than that no real complaints.

I had to look at the stats on the show and it was pretty evident WHY there are some...strange takes on this one. I feel like there are a lot of people watching this who are way younger than the characters. The older I get the more I start to see things from multiple perspectives and understand others' motives.
All the characters are selfish...every last one. But it's what they do when they are confronted with their selfish ways that makes the story interesting.

Do Han wants to be completely free of all responsibility, and keep his two worlds separate, and will abandon anyone that threatens the two worlds colliding.

Ji Han wants his brother to gain power & has honed himself to be a tool for him, without even asking if that's what his brother wants. Because he wants someone who can love him in power. He literally lied his way into the good graces of an entire village to get the rights to their land, and then peaced out the second the stamp lifted from the last contract.

Ah Jeong is a bit selfish about continuing to pursue her dream as an actress even though it's not able to help her family financially like it should. (on a selfish scale she's pretty low. She says she's selfish all the time, but it's mainly as an excuse to help another person) The first time she's truly selfish is when she chooses JH before talking with her friend about what it could mean. Thus causing everyone she loves to be thrown into a public gauntlet.

Chae Won went to DH & JH grandfather to arrange a marriage between her and JH behind his back. And continued to pursue this even though she knew JH was no longer interested in a relationship with her.

But all the people I listed above have amazing qualities as well.
Do Han loves his friend and wants to support her in anything that she does. ie financing her play.
Ji Han is always kind to people, even when he's using them, he's never been cruel. He's protective and willing to do the work to make things happen instead of going the easy way.

Ah Jeong has a moral code that she follows. When she found out she took a job from another actress she was devastated. She goes above and beyond for her friends, and protects their secrets.

Chae Won always sticks up for the little guy. If someone is acting in a way she sees as rude, she will put them in their place so fast their heads will be spinning for days. She also looks past the surface of people and does not judge them on where they come from or who they are connected to. The second she started talking to Ah Jeong after the news broke, she realized there was more to the story and went out of her way to help...even if it meant loosing what she wanted in the process...JH.

I have so many thoughts on this show and how selfishness and selflessness are a major theme of the overall story. I like that even though our main 4 are messy...they are still good people at their core.

I haven't picked up on this as much. I haven't seen him in anything else so for all I know it's a character choice that he made because his character was a Marine and is currently a businessman. Could also be a choice to holdback larger movements because of wanting to take up the least amount of space visually while around his family as he was unwanted and KNEW he was unwanted.
That's very much giving him the benefit of the doubt. I'll have to pay closer attention to it. But like @ItsAMe said the actor is still a bit green.

In roughly 84 minutes of showtime the FL was on screen about 61minutes and the 2FL was on screen for about 44 minutes. ML...only 29ish minutes on screen...

So how long did the main OTP have together without other people interrupting? 11 minutes....roughly 70% of that 11 minutes was spent talking about the 2ML or 2FL.
The FL and 2ML had the same amount of screentime in episode 11 ALONE, that the Main leads had together over both episode 11 and 12.

Yeah I don't know if i'm going to be fixated on this enough to do this for all the previous episodes, but I was bored & my brain needed something to do. Yes I realize how petty/unhinged this is. 🥺🤦🏻‍♀️

So my autism won the battle of the petty fixation.

In the last 2 episodes, episode 11 & 12, I decided to just time out of few things to see why it is I'm so frustrated with the show. Continued in spoiler tag below.

Mainly what those large numbers mean is that the actor is paying his team and staff with that paycheck. An actor only gets a fraction of the appearance fee. So taxes, agents, managers, road managers, stylist, hair & make up, body guards etc. etc.
Different industries have different breakdowns of what the actors paycheck is paying for, but I've noticed that a lot of Asian productions don't have dedicated hair and make-up teams for projects, but that they are who the talent goes to themselves.
Sort of like how some American shows don't have hair and make-up so the actors are just doing it themselves if they can.
Also keep in mind that that paycheck is sometimes the only paycheck that person will have for months if not a year or more depending on project length. That's why doing commercial/brand work is so important for actors.

Same director as F4 so I'm starting to wonder why he struggles so hard to direct interactions with an actually couple on screen. All non romantic scenes seem to be doing an okay job, but the second a couple is born it turns into a George Lucas production. Great and Jane are the only ones given enough to work with to give their characters a bit of a personality. We've spent more time with both of them(Saint/Faye) than we have seen the main leads in the same scene as each other. Aka the main leads have less screen time together than they do with Saint and Faye.

I just can't get over how quickly this show went downhill. Like I was loving this version and how they were changing a few things here and there, but no longer enjoying the changes they've main. We've had little to no moments of end game couple actually bonding together.
And because she doesn't dance like the Korean version it's not like he's really seeing her personality come out secretly like he did in the OG. We've completely lost all character growth from Lui and Guy for the sake of expanding the 2nd leads' stories...why?

If you haven't already watch her in the movie her boyfriend has directed her in. Now that is a power couple worth keeping your eyes on.

Exactly.
I love me a green flag slow-burn with the best of them, but a well written messy human drama is also my jimjam. There is a reason shows like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon were/are some of the most popular shows.
Morally grey characters will always be more dynamic and interesting to dissect. I feel like the people complaining about Ji Han being "trash" and feeling sorry for Do Han are the same people watching Dune and coming out thinking Paul Atreides is a good guy and a true messiah.

I can understand those in the comments who are queer and getting hung up on the misunderstanding of Do Han's motives for running. As being closeted in a country that could shun or kill you because of who you like is a very valid reason for Do Han's behaviour. What I can't get behind is villainizing his allies when they show disappointment in his selfish actions.
Can we all just collectively agree that their grandfather, step-father and the reporter are the real trash/villains of this story? Half-sister is spiraling, but even she was tossed aside after years of trying to be the best person for her family members only for them to toss her away/use her.
I really wanted to see what would happen if the half-brother and his wife and the half-sister were to find out Do Han's secret. Would they out their little brother to get ahead, or would that be the moral line they can't cross? A girl wants to know.
Chae Won knows/suspects something, but is willing to give the benefit of the doubt to all 3 leads because she paused and truly thought about what she knows about each of them. I feel that like Ah Jeong and Ji Han, Chae Won will protect Do Han if he were to tell her the truth.

I think the grandfather not only is behind the beating of the ex.
I think he is hiding the evidence that his son-in-law was involved in the death of his daughter and her lover...aka DoHan and JiHan's parents. I think the reason he's been covering for the son-in-law is because of business reasons at first and maybe like 5% wanting to protect his eldest grandchildren from loosing both their parents. If the son-in-law was in prison it would harm the companies more than if he just covered it up.
I just feel like the grandfather being the sole cause of the accident might be too easy of a conclusion. I don't know why I would think he would protect anyone but himself, but that's my theory.

Can I just say how much respect I have for Chae Won? As of episode 10, she's still killing it. Human with flaws, but never tipping into comic book villain arch. Love that for her. 🫰🏻🫰🏻

Do Han had been in self preservation mode for most of his life. It's okay if it takes him a second to recalibrate after being confronted with his own flaws/misguidedness. He gets there though, which is what matters.
Those are three people that love each other fiercely. They've been fighting in their own way and in their own worlds for so long...they are only just now willing to let their guards down with each other. They've been fighting their own battles, now they need to come together to win the war coming their way. Because at the end of the day they are each other's allies. They are each other's shield and sword.

THIS. The media literacy is not strong on this one this week. I'm like wow wow wow...love how the writers are showing the growth and how selfishness can take many forms and have different motives...and then I came into the comments section and they're bashing all my babies. Like WHAT DID YOU WATCH?